


Winged Shadows

by vvj5 (lost_spook)



Category: Angel: the Series, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-26
Updated: 2010-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-04 02:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_spook/pseuds/vvj5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a new menace in LA and it’s not the weirdo in the patchwork coat.  It’s something shadowy and dangerous. That makes it the business of Angel Investigations, Wolfram and Hart – and a passing Time Lord.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dark Prophecies

**Author's Note:**

> Doctor Who/Angel crossover, set late S2 for Angel.

_A shadow spread its wings over the City of Angels, hovering there before it grew and fell lower, engulfing everything beneath it - lights, noise, people, all fallen into silence and darkness._

_And there seemed to be only one hope - one elusive champion..._

*

A small group clustered together in the centre of an otherwise empty grand hotel lobby; three young men hovering around a dark-haired girl who was sitting on the padded circular seat, clutching her head in pain.

One of them – Wesley – had a pen and notepad in his hands. He leant forward, straightening his glasses. “What did you see?”

“There’s this guy – really badly dressed – I mean, like, tragically unfashionable -. No. It’s gone.”

Wesley frowned. “That’s it?”

Cordy looked up, the vision having passed more swiftly than she had expected, her thumb and forefinger still pressed against her head. “What do you mean _that’s it_?”

“What he’s trying to say,” said Gunn, getting to his feet, “is that it ain’t exactly making me shake in my shoes. Where’s the big bad?”

The last of them – pale with dark hair and eyes and a overhanging forehead – had caught her when she staggered backwards. He still had hold of her arm protectively though the vision was done. “Hey, leave her alone.”

Wesley shot him a quick glare. “Angel.”

She frowned. “We need to get to them. They’re important and they’ll help us. I told you there was a shadow-thing. Anyway, complain to the Powers That Be, not me.”

“Sorry,” said Wesley. “Okay, Gunn. You’re with me. Cordy, any idea about _which_ alley?”

She looked up and flashed him a dazzling smile. Then she wrote down an address on a piece of paper and passed it over.

“That is impressive,” he said, going as far as to raise his eyebrows. “Well done.”

Cordy shrugged. “There was a sign.”

“What about me?” Angel asked, trying too hard to sound casual. Taking orders from Wesley was something he was only slowly getting used to. “You might need me.”

Gunn and Wesley exchanged a glance.

“It’s the middle of the day, Angel,” his new boss reminded him. “You won’t be a lot of use. Anyway, we’ve got the address and Cordy says they’re not dangerous, so -. You stay here, see if she remembers anything else. Call us if she does.”

“ _She_ is here,” pointed out Cordy, unamused. “Or did you mean the cat’s mother?”

*

Gunn and Wes left at a run and Cordelia and Angel looked at each other.

“You okay?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Quit asking me that.” Then she paused. “Actually, yeah, I am. Surprisingly okay.”

“That’s good, right?”

Cordy said, “I suppose. Any day without a fun, mind-splitting, vision-induced migraine is fine by me.”

*

“I’m sorry,” said Lilah Morgan, head of Special Projects at Wolfram and Hart, sitting on her desk, in an elegant jacket and skirt, legs crossed, and hair perfectly coiffured. “When you say you don’t know what this activity was, I presume you mean that you _will_ have found out within the hour if not sooner?”

The psychic paled abruptly. “Ah. Yes. Of course. I do, however, know where it took place.”

“Now you’re talking,” she said, moving forward and flipping open her mobile. “Lilah Morgan. I’ve got a item that needs collecting.”

The red eyed psychic demon trembled. “I shall see if I can unearth more.”

“Do,” she said. “Otherwise – well – read my mind.”

The creature did, and shuddered.

Lilah dismissed him and turned to the view from her new office with a smile that faded swiftly. No one else at the law firm would see it, but her promotion or death experience had left her shaken. She knew this place and that threat was never gone. One wrong step and she’d be finished. In some new, painful and gruesomely inventive fashion if she knew Wolfram and Hart. 

So she decided, eying the city lying in front of her gaze, she had to keep ahead of the game and if there was unidentified multi-dimensional activity here, she was going to know exactly what it was and how to turn it to her advantage before anyone else had time to blink.

*

“Well,” said Peri, emerging from the TARDIS and surveying her surroundings. “Congratulations, Doctor, you’ve done it again.”

The Doctor emerged after her at speed and shut the door behind him. “And what do you mean by that, pray?”

“I thought I’d see the sights of the universe,” she told him. “Instead, we end up in the back end of everywhere. And, hey, here we are in a glamorous alley way, next to the garbage cans. Mind you, at least it’s warm, wherever it is.”

He gave her a smug smile. “I’d have thought you’d have appreciated being on home turf. If you don’t, we can always leave.”

“Home?” began Peri, realising what he meant too slowly. By the time she’d got it, two men in military black and balaclavas had swung down from the building without warning and were pointing guns at them.

She tried a smile and put up her hands. “Hi?”

“Nice to meet you,” added the Doctor. “Always so thoughtful when someone sends out a welcome party, isn’t it, Peri?”

Peri kept her smile going as best as she could. “Isn’t it just?”

“This way,” barked one of them, nodding to a van at the end of the alley.

She and the Doctor exchanged resigned expressions.

“Not again,” said Peri, rolling her eyes. “What’s the universe got against us?”

*

“What was the ‘shadow’ you saw?” asked Angel.

She paused and thought about it. “I don’t know. Something bad, that’s all.”

“Any details?”

She pushed a strand of her bobbed hair back. “A sort of vague forebodingness.”

“Sounds familiar,” he said with a frown and paced a line in front of the reception desk of the hotel that was both his home and office.

Cordy looked at him. “It should. Foreboding is our middle name. Along with Apocalypse and Death and all those other fun, wacky things.”

“Doesn’t sound good,” he said, but a smile was playing about his mouth at her words. 

“No,” she said. “It never is. Anyway, I saw a big fat shadow and got a foreboding-y vibe. Let’s see what happens when the guys get back.”

He brooded. “I could have gone.”

“Angel. They’ve gone to fetch a couple of strangers. Trust me, the only scary thing about those two was their dress sense.”

*

One of their assailants suddenly fell with a shout, a crossbow bolt in his arm and the other swung around and fired at the unseen rescuers.

“Hey!” yelled Peri and threw a bag of rubbish at the remaining military guy.

A stranger dressed in a suit and glasses ran in front of them, grabbing the gun from the sidewalk, where it had been dropped by one of their would-be abductors.

Another, this one a black guy nothing like as formally dressed, punched the second, while he was distracted by Peri’s efforts with the garbage. Then he shook his hand out as the man fell. “Ow. That hurt. What’s his head made of?”

“They’re from Wolfram and Hart,” said the first, the one with glasses, still holding the crossbow and the gun. “We’d better get out of here before they send anyone else.”

The second moved across to them. “You two okay? I’m Gunn, this is Wesley. We got sent to meet you – looks like we were only just in time.”

“I know it must sound odd,” put in the other. “But we don’t mean any harm – and we might be able to help each other.”

Peri looked at the Doctor.

“I’m not sure I understood a word of that,” he told him. “Still, I appreciate the timely rescue. Lead on!”

Gunn looked at Peri. “Great. Another long-winded British guy. Just what we needed.”

“Sort of,” she said and laughed. “And thanks. Our chances didn’t look good back then.”

He grinned back. “Hey, all part of the service.”

*

Ten minutes later, a truck pulled up outside the alleyway and another suited man got out. He looked at the two injured paramilitaries and shook his head. He switched on his mobile. “Ms Morgan. They’ve gone, but the crate’s still here.”

“Then bring it in,” she said on the other end. “Let’s take a look.”

He nodded to the men he’d brought with him to start moving the TARDIS. “Yes, ma’am.”

*

“Grateful as I am,” said the Doctor on arriving at the Hyperion Hotel, “I’d like to know why you came to find us and what you want with us?”

Peri stared about her at the grand lobby. “You guys live here?”

“ _Angel_ lives here,” said the girl. “A hundred empty rooms for him to mope around in. I’ve got an apartment of my own, complete with a housemate.”

“Interesting as everyone’s living arrangements may be, that doesn’t answer the more pertinent questions,” pointed out the Doctor, with a glare towards Peri for diverting the conversation. “Who are you and what do you want with us?”

Angel folded his arms. “I don’t mope.”

Wesley moved forward. “It’s a good question. I’m Wesley Wyndham-Price and I’m in charge here. This is Angel Investigations.”

“We help the helpless,” put in Cordelia. “For a reasonable fee.”

Gunn said, “Okay, the deal is Cordy got a vision from the Powers That Be and apparently you two can help us fight off some shadow thing.”

“I beg your pardon?” said the Doctor.

Angel looked up. “Would you say ‘mope’? I mean, brooding, I know -.”

“Get over it, loser,” said Cordy and grinned at him. He’d missed that smile too much lately for it not to work.

*

The explanations didn’t get any easier.

“You’re expecting me to believe this far-fetched story about visions?”

“I realise it must sound odd, but we’re not the only ones interested in you. Those men were from Wolfram and Hart.”

“Wolfram and Hart?”

“Boy,” said Gunn, “are you two ever new to this town.”

Angel said, “Wolfram and Hart are a law firm.”

“An _evil_ law firm,” put in Wesley. “They have an interest in some more unusual clients, shall we say?”

“Demons,” translated Gunn. “And other weird-ass stuff.”

The Doctor’s expression grew a fraction more incredulous. “Demons?”

Cordy added, “So, if they’re interested in something or someone, we want to know why.”

“And you are?”

She smiled. “Cordelia Chase. I’m an actress. I’m only working here until fame and fortune finally track me down.”

“I see,” said the Doctor. “But you also have visions? Of what, dare one ask? Your eventual stardom? More so-called demons?”

Peri gasped out, barely even seeing how it was that Angel, who’d been leaning back against the reception desk that Cordy was sitting at, was suddenly across the other side of the room, pinning the Doctor up against the wall. 

“One more crack at Cordelia and I’ll get mad,” said Angel, in his ear. “And nobody likes me when I’m angry. Understand?”

It was Wesley’s turn to glare. “Angel. That’s not helpful. Let him go.”

“Thank you, young man,” said the Doctor, straightening his coat. “I’m not sure that makes me any happier about trusting you.”

Peri moved nearer to him. On balance she liked their rescuers, but she wasn’t sure and arguing with the Doctor was her job. So was stopping people from attacking him, even if she rarely had much luck with it.

“Shall we start again?” the Doctor suggested, looking round at their faces. “I promise to hear you out this time.”

*

“Well, I can understand why you were sent to me, even if I don’t fathom how – this superstitious nonsense about demons, magic and visions is worrying to say the least. I wonder what sort of creatures these Powers of yours must be?”

Wesley waited and when he realised that the Doctor had lost his answer in verbiage, he said, with a gentle cough, “So why did they send us to you?”

“No offence, but you don’t look like demon-fighters,” added Gunn. He shrugged. Cordy remembered his similar dismissal of her – and Wesley, for that matter. (Stick figure Barbie and C-3PO, hadn’t he said? They’d proved him wrong. Mostly.)

The Doctor said. “Appearances can be deceptive. As an experienced time-traveller, I am an expert at fighting evil of all sorts and shapes, although I’ve never come across something that wasn’t very much of this world or another.”

“A demon,” said Angel. “If it’s not from this world, it’s a demon.”

Cordy was looking from Peri to the Doctor, enlightenment dawning. “Right, time-travellers. That’s new but it explains the outfits. Well, kind of, maybe.”

The Doctor paid no attention to her. “Young man, that is a very narrow-minded way of looking at the world. Demon implies supernatural and evil and some aliens may be -.”

“So you don’t know anything about this shadow creature?” cut in Cordy.

Peri shook her head.

“There’s only one course of action,” said Wesley. He looked round at the rest of Angel Investigations and their expressions altered as they understood.

Cordy swallowed. “Not again. There’s gotta be another way.”

“What?” Peri, asked, catching the general mood of apprehension. She caught hold of the Doctor’s sleeve defensively. “What are you planning on doing?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Wesley. “I’m not proposing that _Angel_ sings unless he has to. If our guests wouldn’t mind -.”

Gunn whistled. “That’s a relief. Cause nobody could be worse.”

“Hey,” said Angel, “what d’you mean, _nobody_ could be worse?”

“What I said, bro. It mightn’t be so bad if you’d lose the Manilow obsession, but man -.”

The Doctor had to interrupt. “Do I understand you right? You want us to _sing_?”

“Yup,” said Cordy. “The guys will explain. And in the meantime, since we’ve got a few hours to kill, Peri and I are going shopping.”

Peri blinked. “We are?”

“We most certainly are,” said Cordy. When the rest – all males of the species (whatever species it happened to be) – stared at her, she said, “What? We help the helpless, don’t we? And she cannot go round wearing that. It’s a mercy mission and I’m putting it on the expenses sheet.”

Wesley frowned. “You are not using what little funds we have in order to indulge in shopping!”

Cordy glared. Did she have to explain everything? She was right about the clothes – she always was – but it was also the perfect way to make some oh-so-innocent enquiries about their visitors. “Angel?”

“Wes is in charge,” he reminded her.

She gave him her best and slowest smile. “Yes, but you could lend me some cash for an emergency.”

“I suppose,” said Angel, who was over eager to please after his period of Darla-obsession, murdering lawyers, betraying his friends and, worst of all, giving away her clothes to the poor and needy. She wasn’t sure whether she approved of this or not. He hadn’t bothered with nice or polite much till now. His trying either amused her or made her hair stand on end, because it wasn’t really _him_. Then he nodded. “Fine by me.”

Wesley glared. Cordy could almost see the steam coming off him, but she thought that Angel had caught her drift at last.

“If you want a dark coat,” he ventured to the Doctor, “I’m sure we could find something.”

Cordy grabbed Peri and led her away. The clueless men around her might not understand these things, but she recognised a lost cause when it came to tasteful dressing even if they didn’t.

“Why would I want a dark coat?” he demanded.

Angel, who was wearing his customary black on black, said, “Well, you’re kind of conspicuous. That’s a bad thing in our line of work.”

“Come on,” said Cordy. “We can go out, find you something decent to wear, have coffee and be back before the bickering’s done.”

Peri laughed.

*

Peri was a little bemused by Cordy’s actions, but she was won over by her friendliness and the chance to go on a shopping spree, even if she felt at sea with the fashions of the day. It was a long, long time since she’d tried on outfits with a friend. And Cordy was almost frightening in her immediate and accurate assessment of what she should and shouldn’t wear. 

“You wouldn’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve done this,” the other girl said, startling her by voicing her own thoughts.

She stared. “But you live here!”

“I’ve been oh-so-slightly broke for a while,” she confessed. “There’s nothing I don’t know about looking fabulous on a shoestring, from the noble art of hiding the tag and returning the really expensive dress to just about any other method you care to name.”

Peri grinned. “Who hasn’t tried that at least once? I was gonna say the same thing. The Doctor and I travel everywhere in time and space, but not to the shops, just about ever.”

“That’s men for you,” said Cordy. “Want a coffee?”

*

“One thing at a time,” said the Doctor, who was feeling uncharacteristically overwhelmed by the response to his asking for more information about Angel Investigations and Wolfram & Hart. “What is this about singing?”

Wesley said, “Well, it may sound a bit out there, but there’s this demon karaoke bar and we-.”

“There’s a _what_?”

Gunn and Angel exchanged a glance.

“Think they’d notice if we left?” said Gunn.

Angel gazed at the door. He disliked noise and people in his space. “I’m considering it.”

*

Peri had a coke rather than a coffee and she played with the straw now, thinking that she could try and find out something about this odd set-up from her new friend. “You and your boss – are you-?”

“My boss?” she echoed. “You mean Wes or Angel?”

“Angel. Are you two together?”

Cordy laughed. “No. And I mean, _no_. A whole world of never. You have no idea.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I only wondered – he got so mad when the Doctor said that about you earlier. And I’m sorry about that, too. He didn’t really mean it. He doesn’t like all this unscientific, supernatural stuff, that’s all.”

“Bully for him. I went to high school on a hellmouth. I didn’t have that option. And I could ask about you and him, if it comes to that. Travelling around with some weird, older guy?”

She sighed. “It’s not like that. I mean, he was cute when I met him, but he changed. And that’s sort of my fault. It’s complicated.”

“Join the club,” said Cordy. “Trust me, if we start comparing weird, I’m gonna win hands down.”

Peri sat up and slammed down the coke. “You wanna bet?”

“Went to school on a hellmouth.”

“I travel the universe with a 900 year old Time Lord,” she retorted. “He can completely change his appearance and personality – and go anywhere in time and space using a time machine that’s bigger on the inside than the outside.”

Cordy raised her eyebrows. “Wow. There aren’t many statements that beat ‘I work for a 250 year old vampire trying to atone for his past crimes’ but I think that might be one. Is he a demon?”

“Alien.”

“Whatever.”

Peri reflected on what she had said. “Um. Yeah. Wait – _vampire_? Past crimes? Angel?”

“Yep,” said Cordy. “Don’t worry. He’s good now. Well, most of the time, unless he lets his obsession with dumb blondes get to him.”

She stared at her. “Nobody thought that was worth mentioning?”

“Oh, crap,” said Cordy. “I’m getting too used to this stuff. Don’t freak out, okay? I thought you said you’d been everywhere, done everything and got the T-shirt.”

“Not vampires! You have to be kidding me, right?”

“Look,” Cordy returned, “vampire, yeah. _Not_ evil, okay? Sort of, anyway.”

“What d’you mean, sort of?”

“Okay, he’s good,” she said. “Unless you’re evil, or a lawyer or something.”

Peri frowned. “And why do you want the Doctor to sing? He’s not that great at it, you know.”

“Gunn’s right,” said Cordy. “You two are new-.” She stopped and clutched at her head with a gasp.

“What is it?”

She gritted her teeth, but could not keep back a yell that turned to a scream, Peri spilling her coke in her efforts to keep her from falling off the stool she was sitting on. She wound up, kneeling beside her, panicking silently, while the waitress asked if she could help.

“Shall I get an ambulance?”

Peri thought about everything Cordy had been saying and shook her head. “No. She’ll be fine. Just let me -.”

“I’m okay,” Cordy added, with a gulp. She sat up, using Peri’s shoulder to pull herself up. “Really. It’s nothing. Thanks.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Peri, brown eyes widening as she looked at her.

The confident, almost brazen girl had gone. She leant against her and semi-croaked, “A vision. I saw that shadow again and it was swallowing everything – everyone. We need to get to Angel.”

She forgot all the odd things she’d been told. Whatever was going on here, they weren’t being set up by Cordelia and her friends. Her visions might not be a method of communication the Doctor approved of, but they were real.

“Don’t tell the others,” she added in a whisper. “Please. Pass me my bag – I’ve got painkillers -.”

Peri nodded. “I won’t. You take it easy and I’ll help you back.”

And she thought with a shiver that a girl who had predicted their arrival to the very time and place might be right about the shadow monster she’d seen.

*

Later, Wesley, Gunn, Cordy and Angel led the Doctor and Peri into _Caritas_ , the demon karaoke bar they had been trying unsuccessfully to explain to their guests.

“Don’t scream,” said Cordy, grabbing Peri’s hand as she glimpsed the other customers, not to mention the Host himself.

“They’re _aliens_. Aliens sitting round here in LA. Are they dangerous?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Cordy whispered. “There’s a protection spell round the place. And it’s demons, okay? Most of them reckon they’ve been here much longer than humans and they’ll get huffy if you start calling them names.”

The Doctor made his way to the bar. “Ever since I got here, I’ve been wondering what’s going on. I usually have some idea, but this place -.”

“It can be a bit of shock,” said Wesley. “LA is like another planet at times.”

He glared at him; their initial antagonistic reactions having been worsened by the Doctor’s scorn for Wesley’s chief sources of information being unreliable occult books written centuries ago. He’d already offered to fetch him a proper galactic encyclopaedia as an alternative, which had caused Wesley to venture his opinion about aliens, the insanity of UFO conspiracies and people who claimed to be able to travel in time – patently absurd – and the argument had been pretty much ongoing ever since.

“I get that,” said the demon, leaning against the bar beside him. He was green-skinned, with small red horns and a stunning blue suit. “I’m not exactly from this dimension myself.”

The Doctor glanced at him. The civilised, world-weary tone was a surprise. “Who says I’m not -?”

“From around here?” he finished for him and then gave a laugh, depositing his glass on the bar. “You do, stupid. You don’t need to breathe to be giving me the heebie-jeebies. Wherever you’re from it’s a long way from here. Two hearts,” he added. “Novel, although you could have one in a more sensible place, take it from me. You’ll break the spare soon.”

Wesley intervened. “Lorne is an empath demon. He’s the one we were telling you about. He might be able to help us.”

“This guy?” said the Host. “No. _Nada_. He’s not singing. Over my dead body – literally. In fact, if he could move further away from me, I’d appreciate it.”

Angel frowned. “There’s something wrong with him? Cordy had a vision – said he could help.”

“Oh, not wrong, _per se_ , but let’s say I don’t want to look into his future any more than I have to. If he sings, I’ll start haemorrhaging and that won’t be pretty, especially not in this suit.”

Then he stopped, a stillness in him that was emphasised by the silence that fell at the ending of the current song. His red eyes rested on Peri, seeming to glow. “Now this young lady – _she_ should sing.”

“Peri?” said the Doctor, taken aback.

Lorne frowned. “Nothing personal, but can he wait outside?”

Everyone else was looking at Peri and she had the cold feeling that being singled out here meant nothing good.

“You want me to sing?”

***


	2. The Mind's Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peri is forced to sing karaoke, the Doctor encounters the softer side of Wolfram and Hart and Angel Investigations find the end of the world is on its way. Again.

Peri couldn’t make up her mind whether or not it was a good thing the Doctor had stomped off outside at Lorne’s insistence, since it meant she would be spared his comments on her performance, but it also left her alone with a strange group of people and a lot of aliens or demons, now all staring at her. And they wanted her to sing karaoke.

“Uh,” said Peri. Every song she had ever known deserted her. “What have you got?”

Cordy said, “Madonna?”

“Who?” asked Peri, who’d left earth a little too soon to have taken much note of an up and coming pop star.

Gunn sat at the bar. “Something cool, okay? There’s only so much my ears and my street cred can take here. And that yellow dude up there should not even be _thinking_ about Elvis.”

*

Peri had faced any number of aliens, unwanted admirers, people who wanted to kill her (often both at the same time), and who knew what else since travelling with the Doctor, but there were few things scarier than approaching a microphone alone in front of a gaggle of weird looking creatures, knowing that when she sang a green guy in a swish suit was going to read her thoughts.

She closed her mind, gripped the microphone, and opened her mouth.

*

Outside, left in an alley way with nothing to do but grumble to himself, the Doctor indulged in precisely that (Some ridiculous green alien – demon, hah! – didn’t want him to sing? None of them knew what they were missing). What was worse, he thought, more seriously, he was unsure of any of their new acquaintances and he’d left Peri in there alone with them.

“You’re the one they call the Doctor?”

He turned, his coat swinging out behind him. 

There was a young man standing there in the alley, incongruously dressed in an immaculate suit, briefcase in hand. He was thin and bland, the sort of person he’d forget almost instantly despite his best intentions. He held out a card. “Wolfram and Hart. We believe we can do business.”

“Ah,” said the Doctor, taking it. “I see. So you’re from this evil law firm who tried to kill me earlier?”

“That was a regrettable administrative error, for which we apologise unreservedly, sir.”

He raised both his eyebrows. “Is that what you call it? I’d have thought a minor error for a law firm would be more likely to involve unfortunate phrasing of a codicil or a less than competent defence case.”

“If you wish to make an appointment, be reassured that you will be well received – and I should probably make it clear to you that we may have something of yours.”

“I beg your pardon?”

He shrugged, the merest fraction of a movement. “A blue crate, or so I understand.”

“Wait. You’ve stolen my TARDIS?”

He smiled slightly. “As I said, I’m sure we can come to some arrangement. Have a nice day.”

“Have a nice -,” he stopped, huffing in disapproval. “I like that! And what, dare one ask, would a consultation cost?”

The man turned as he began to walk away. “For a potentially valuable client like you? No need to mention it.”

*

“ _I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee_ ,” Peri sang with more desperation than tunefulness, but the patrons were nodding away regardless and Cordy was giving her an encouraging smile of a wattage that would have lit the whole room. 

Lorne moved forward, gently retrieving the microphone. “I’m sure you did, sweetie. You can give our eardrums a rest now. I’ve got what I needed.”

She climbed down from the stage, intrigued enough not to pay attention to the two headed creature excreting pink slime that stepped up next, starting up a completely tone-deaf version of _That’ll Be The Day_. “So, read my mind, then.”

“I don’t read minds exactly,” he told her, red eyes bright as he led her away from the rest. She thought that she should have been terrified by him, but she wasn’t. She wondered if maybe she’d seen enough monsters to know when somebody, however strange they might appear, wasn’t one. “I read futures, sugar cane, and yours – well yours is a real doozy. I’m not sure there’s much else I can say.”

“Hang on, that’s not -.”

He led her back across to Cordy and the rest. “She’s got the answer, all right. You stick with her and it’ll work out.”

“Hey, I sang for that?” said Peri, pouting.

Lorne turned. “I can’t make people’s futures for them. You’ve got the key to stopping this dark thing on its way – and boy, is it dark, even for this town. Beyond that, you’ll need to work it out for yourself, gorgeous.”

“Right,” said Peri, but there was something in his tone and the red of his gaze, darkening now as it rested on her, that made her shiver. He sounded _sad_ , she realised and her demands to know more died in her throat.

He caught her expression and smiled, patting her on the arm. “Nothing’s certain yet, honey bun. And it’s not here and now I’m worrying about. For the moment, you stick close to our divine Cordelia and you won’t go so far wrong.”

“I’m with Peri,” said Cordy. “I could have told her that without any singing.” 

*

They retrieved the Doctor from the alley outside _Caritas_. Peri was surprised to find that he was actually there, for one thing, and for another that he was quiet (for him) and not about to start on loud complaints about having to wait while she performed.

“Peri,” he said, turning. “And did the fortune-telling alien see your future in the tea leaves?”

Wesley was behind them. “Demon,” he corrected, straightening his glasses as they walked back towards the Hyperion.

“Let it go, can’t you?” put in Cordelia. “Sheesh.”

Peri swallowed. “I’ll tell you later.”

“What now, then?” asked the Doctor.

Cordy said, “Now? I’m going home and hoping I don’t get another vision.”

“A sensible idea, since we haven’t got much of a lead,” said Wesley. “I did manage to get a word with Merl, but he wasn’t forthcoming. I’ll have to try again when Angel isn’t around.”

“Hey, is it my fault the guy holds a grudge? And you two can stay in the hotel if you haven’t got anywhere else,” said Angel.

Wesley said, “You went to his home and beat him up, so yes.”

“I think we’ll have to,” said the Doctor, “but I am wondering if it’s a good idea.”

“Hole,” said Angel. “You couldn’t call it a home.”

Gunn grinned at Peri. “You might not believe this, but we _are_ the good guys round here. Most of the time.”

*

“Doctor,” said Peri, poking her head round his door after he’d called for her to come in. He was standing in the middle of the room, minus his coat, not that that was much of an improvement, reading one of Angel’s elderly books. It looked mind-numbingly boring to her. 

He looked up and snapped it shut. “Ah, Peri. I think we’d better have a word about what happened earlier.”

“Yeah, that was what I thought,” she agreed, shutting the door behind her. “Although, it wasn’t much. He said I could stop this dark whatever-it-is, and that I should stick with Cordelia. Does any of this make sense to you, Doctor?”

He frowned. “Very little, although it seems that there is considerable inter-dimensional activity around here, which might explain a lot. And while you were singing some raucous pop number, I was approached by the same organisation that tried to assassinate us earlier.”

“These Wolfram and Hart guys?”

He nodded. “Apparently, they would like me to go and see someone whose title is Head of Special Projects – and, by the way, they have the TARDIS.”

“Great,” she said. “So we can’t make a quick getaway?”

He grimaced. “No. In the morning, then, I suggest you do what the green man suggests and stay with Miss Chase, and I shall pay a visit to this nest of vipers and find out what they want.”

“Shouldn’t I come with you? They tried to kill us!”

He smiled. “Oh, I’m assured that was only a mistake. And somehow I’d rather you kept out of their way. I’m a little unsure what to make of our new friends, but these people are only too familiar in their methods.”

“They’re the bad guys?” she tried, with an effort at humour. It was half-hearted. For some reason, she could still see the look on Lorne’s face when he ‘read’ her future. 

The Doctor said, “I doubt it’s that simple, but – well, yes.”

“One more thing,” she said, turning back at the door. “I ought to tell you, but when we were out shopping Cordelia said that Angel was a vampire.”

He froze. “He’s a _what_?”

She shrugged defensively. “I know, that’s what I said, but she ought to know.”

“Hah. Probably nothing but an understandable mistake, what with all that black.”

“Doctor, she meant it. She said he was good now, though.”

He drew himself up and she recognised the danger signs of an oncoming lecture. “Peri, vampires – well, there are some creatures enough like your idea of them – old enemies of the Time Lords – but there’s certainly no such thing as a ‘good’ vampire. One of the Great Vampires, or any of their relatives, but basically, they’re nothing but parasites.”

“A parasite?”

“What else do you call a creature that sucks out your lifeblood and uses your body as a host for its offspring? The idea that you can suddenly have a ‘good’ vampire is, well -.”

“Lame?” suggested Angel, emerging from the hallway without any warning sounds. “Yeah. It has been said.”

The Doctor turned. “You heard?”

“We lame vampires have good hearing,” he said. “Anyways, you were yelling and I was on my way to check you had, you know, towels and things.”

He scratched the back of his neck, twisting his arm round awkwardly. “Ah. Well, you must admit it is an unlikely proposition -.”

“I’m aware of that,” said Angel. “Want proof?” 

He drew back and, to Peri’s shock, his face changed, distorted and he was showing sharp teeth. Peri stifled a shriek and clutched at the Doctor’s arm.

“It’s okay,” he said, his face shifting back. “I don’t bite. Not unless I’m really pissed off, or evil. And I’m not evil right now, whatever anyone says.”

The Doctor put an arm round Peri. “I still don’t understand.”

“Parasite sounds about right, by the way,” he returned. “And, yeah, there aren’t any good vampires, except me. Long story. Mostly not pretty and with no happy ending.”

He arched his brows. “Oh?”

“Gypsy curse,” he said. “Got my soul back.”

The Doctor drew in breath, preparing for an outburst of scepticism. Peri elbowed him sharply in time. “Peri!”

“We’ll have to believe you, won’t we?” she said. 

The Doctor wouldn’t be stopped, not entirely. “You got your ‘soul’ back? And, what pray does that mean? And a ‘gypsy curse’? I never heard such an unlikely lot of twaddle in all my lives!”

“Not my problem,” said Angel. “Trust me. Whatever you think a ‘soul’ is, you wouldn’t like me without one.”

*

Peri swallowed, on the point of leaving for her room next door. “Doctor, I just thought of something.”

“And what would that be?”

She had her hand on the handle. “Well, Angel’s a vampire, right?”

“I think we’ve established that, even if I still don’t -.”

She said, “And here we are, all alone with him in this big, empty old hotel?”

“Ah,” he said and grinned at her. “Peri, if anything happens to you, I’m sure the entire block will hear you screaming. I certainly will, and I promise I shall come speeding to your rescue with a sprig of garlic in my hand.”

She glared.

“In the mean time, I suggest you keep your door locked.”

“Thanks.”

“What more do you want?”

She pulled the door open. “As long as you understand that if I get bit, and you _don’t_ come running in time, because you wanted to get to the end of the chapter, or whatever, I’m coming straight after _you_.”

“That,” said the Doctor, “is a truly terrifying thought and now _I_ shall be having nightmares.”

*

“I still don’t see why I can’t come,” Peri said, following the Doctor down the stairs to the lobby.

He paused to put an arm around her. “They did try to kill us yesterday.”

“So, you need me.”

He smiled at her. “No, I need you somewhere safe. Or relatively safe, anyway. What little I know of Wolfram and Hart has my hackles thoroughly raised. Stay with Miss Chase, see if you can find out more about this vague threat – now that would be useful.”

“Okay, but you take care, Doctor,” she said.

*

Peri crossed the lobby to the reception desk where Cordelia was sitting, surrounded by newspapers and eating waffles.

“What are you doing anyway?” asked Angel, handing her a cup of coffee.

Cordy chewed a mouthful. “It came to me in the middle of the night. My vision, yesterday – the second one – it felt imminent, you know, like this thing wasn’t on its way anymore; it had arrived. So I thought -.”

“Anything out of the ordinary in the morning papers might be a lead?” Angel said, leaning against the desk and actually smiling. “Hey, not bad.”

For that, she threw him a withering look.

“Hi,” said Peri, reaching them. “Can I help?”

The other girl gave her a small wave. “Hey. Want some breakfast? For a guy who can’t eat, he’s a great cook.”

“I can eat if I want to,” he muttered. “Cordy, you’re dripping on the paper -.”

Wesley marched in. “Ah,” he said, a folded newspaper under his arm. “You’ve seen the news, have you?”

“Hey, don’t you steal my idea,” protested Cordy.

He ignored her, giving Peri a smile. “Morning, Peri. Having breakfast, are we?”

“That would be nice,” ventured Peri, still feeling as if she was treading on uncertain ground with the group. Still, proper meals weren’t to be sneezed at when you spent half your life running down corridors and the other half locked up in a cell with a guy who thought that was a good moment to give lectures on science or Shakespeare or whatever it was he’d decided this time.

Wesley turned to Angel. “Ah, I see the junior employee is busying himself with the menial duties. I wouldn’t mind some as well, if you’re offering, Angel. Bring it to me at my desk.” He moved on past.

“Long story,” said Cordy, as Angel departed to fetch the toast. “Don’t worry – Angel deserves it. Mostly.”

Peri watched Wesley go, bemused. “Okay.”

Angel returned with the waffles, even as Wesley re-emerged with slightly less dignity.

“I forgot,” he said, “I wanted to show you what I came across in the morning news -.”

Cordy put up a hand and squeaked over an article. “This is it! Look!”

“That’s what I’m trying to say,” said Wesley and spread out his copy over the top of the desk.

They all crowded round the article.

“What we looking at?” asked a new voice.

Peri turned her head to see Gunn had joined them. “Cordy and Wesley have found something.” 

*

The Doctor was standing in another lobby; this one belonging to Wolfram and Hart. Everyone about him was dressed in smart suits, each one as faceless as the last. He was shown into the lift and along the corridor to an office by a dark-haired, grey-suited man who barely had a word to say.

The Doctor knocked and stepped inside without waiting for an answer.

At the desk, a woman turned. She was every bit as well-dressed as the rest, if not more, but she was anything but faceless. 

“Lilah Morgan,” she introduced herself, walking across on perilous heels and giving him a quick smile. “I understand you like to be known as the Doctor?”

He watched her. “I’m impressed. You seem to be remarkably well-informed.”

“I’m paid to be,” she said.

The Doctor was intrigued despite himself. She worked for a law firm that had in the space of one day tried to have him killed, stolen his TARDIS and possibly tried to bribe him, and the notice on her door had read Head of Special Projects, but while she spoke with confidence, clearly a powerful player in this little world of hers, there was something beyond that impeccable surface that seemed in danger of shattering into pieces.

“Indeed,” he said and slammed the door with unexpected force.

She started briefly, but passed it over, moving back to her desk. However, it was enough to prove his point. “Have a seat.”

“If you don’t mind, I won’t,” he said. _Definitely nervous of something_ , he concluded. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know why. “All I want is my TARDIS back.”

Lilah smiled again, and this time it was completely charming, and utterly insincere. “That’s good. There’s nothing more we’d like than to give it to you, Doctor, but there’s the little matter of some paperwork first.”

“Young lady,” said the Doctor. “I don’t trust you; I don’t think you trust me. I’m not signing any paperwork here, but neither am I moving until you give me my TARDIS back.”

She sat on the desk and crossed her legs. “No problem. We’ll be happy to oblige, but first we’d like to know precisely what it is. Even the most talented of our seers is at a loss -.”

“Your _what_?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Seers. Mystical experts, demons, you name it. No one can work it out.”

“I’m not surprised,” he returned. “Maybe if you had a scientist on the staff -.”

Lilah paused and gave a laugh. “Doctor, we’ve got access to the best scientists in the country, but I don’t think they’d be any the wiser, do you?”

“Ah. Maybe not.”

She swallowed and glanced downwards. “And if I don’t have some sort of report to hand over to the senior partners, I could be in trouble. Do you know what that means here?”

“I expect I could imagine.”

Lilah widened her eyes. “So, tell me, Doctor. That’s all I’m asking. After that, we’ll put anything you want at your disposal. And I do mean _anything_.”

“Stop trying to butter me up and flutter your eyelashes at me,” he said, moving across. “It’s a time and space machine, but that knowledge is worse than useless without me. Now, _give it back_!”

She smiled at him. “You’ll have to ask nicely. We’re interested in you, Doctor. Trust me, that’s a compliment.”

“I don’t think so!”

*

“Yesterday afternoon,” read Cordelia, “sixty conference attendees were found dead at the Marchioness Hotel. The Wheat Growers Association were holding their twenty-seventh annual conference -.”

“Sounds thrilling,” Gunn put in. “Bet they were glad of the interruption.”

Wesley took over. “It seems something unexpected also arrived at the hotel. The police are still investigating while everyone in the hotel’s Chatsworth Room were found dead -.”

“-Without a mark on them,” finished Cordy. “This is it. This is the foreboding shadow-guy, I know it.”

Angel reached for his coat. “Then let’s go take a look.” He remembered in time to pause and glance over at Wesley. “If you think so.”

“I do,” returned the Englishman. “However, it’s good to see you using your initiative.”

The vampire couldn’t keep back a glare. Wesley instantly became smug.

“Oh, quit it, you pair of girls,” said Cordy. “Let’s go!”

They both looked at her.

“It’s not gonna stop here,” she said. “We need to find it before it strikes again. This is only the start.”

Gunn stopped. “Sixty dead dudes and you think there’ll be _more_?” He held up his hands as they all turned to look at him. “And why am I even acting surprised?”

“We’ll find it,” said Angel, putting a hand to her shoulder. 

Cordy sighed. “You know, that’s part of what worries me.”

“And then we’ll cut its head off,” added Gunn with a grin. “Come on.”

Peri followed them, but she didn’t like it. If something had turned up and killed sixty people just like that, she wanted the Doctor, and he was busy with other people who’d definitely seemed to want them dead yesterday.

Instead, she was trailing along after a vampire. There was no way this could go well.

***


	3. Trail of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's leaving a trail of bodies across LA, Angel's following it alone and the Doctor's still trying to take on Wolfram and Hart. And all these ventilation shafts look alike to Peri.

Lilah put a hand to the Doctor’s coat. She winced imperceptibly at a closer view of it. “I’m sure we could come to some arrangement,” she told him, with a smile. “Aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid not, young lady,” returned the Doctor. “All _I_ want is my TARDIS back.”

She shrugged and smiled at him as she toyed with his lapel. “That old box? I’m sure I could give you something far more fascinating.”

“I don’t want something more fascinating,” he snapped. “From what I’ve seen so far, it’d be much too fascinating for my peace of mind – or my continued survival.”

Lilah moved nearer. “Really? How flattering.” He wasn’t taking a hint, which was generally as far as she needed to go, so she leaned in to kiss him. It turned out to be a bad move, as he removed her hands and pushed her away with a definite movement and a look in his eye that even she was not about to argue with. (How she hated that feeling of displacement – suddenly finding oneself on the window ledge, or half-on, half-off – and there was a whole lot of nothing between her and the ground outside _her_ window.)

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I came here to discuss the return of my property in a reasonable manner. However, if you won’t be reasonable, than neither will I. You’ll be hearing from me again!”

She swallowed. “You’ll pay for that, Doctor.”

Worse still, Gavin was standing there in the doorway with a smirk on his face. Admittedly, he was rarely without one, but he had cause this time. “Lilah, are these the depths you’ve sunk to?”

“All the way,” she returned with a smile of her own, battle joined. “That’s what it takes in this firm and no one’s gonna go lower than me.”

He moved forward and said in an undertone, “He’s not human. You ought to have found out what sort of weird stuff he is into before you tried that. Assuming he’d have been interested anyway-”

“He’s a demon?” she said. It shook her and she could see from his face that he saw it. All these years and she couldn’t hide her feelings. It wasn’t wise in a place where you weren’t supposed to have any. Not of the weaker sort, anyhow. She glanced at the Doctor and tried a smirk of her own. “I should have known, with that fashion sense.”

He said, “I trust I may leave unmolested?”

Gavin’s amused look deepened. “Oh, I think Lilah’s done her worst.”

“You jumped up little nobody,” she hissed. “You think you know what it takes to succeed in this town? You’ve got a lot to learn, little man.”

He left her. “I don’t go round kissing demons. If I’d known you were that desperate, maybe I could have made you an offer of my own. Depending on how desperate I was.”

“Spare me,” said the Doctor. He paused in the doorway. “As it happens, speaking purely objectively, Miss Morgan is an attractive female. Unfortunately, I happen to be a good few hundred years older than her, of an entirely different species, and, personally, I prefer something less… amoral. Or is plain evil the epithet I’m searching for?”

Lilah watched him go, a smile hovering uncertainly on her lips. “If it weren’t for the company he keeps, I could learn to like him.”

“You see, Lilah,” said Gavin, “that’s your problem. Females lack the detachment of a level-headed male.”

She turned and gave him her very best, full-on smile. “Yeah? You know, you’re right, Gavin and one of these days, lacking that enviable detachment I’m gonna have to go outside the lines and pay someone to have you disembowelled. I might even let them kill you afterwards.”

*

The area around the Marchioness Hotel was cordoned off, police cars parked about, but Wesley pulled the car into the nearest alley. Angel wasn’t with them. It was a sunny day so he’d taken to the sewers.

“Okay,” said Gunn. “We’re here. Now how’d we get past the cops?”

Cordy glanced at Peri. “I think we can come up with something.”

“There’s a window over there,” said Peri, climbing out of the car. “We could get in that way.”

Gunn looked up at it. “Too small.”

“Not for Peri and Cordy,” said Wesley, a serious note in his voice that caused Peri to turn her head, startled.

Cordy followed Peri out. “Come on, then. Someone give me a bunk up.”

“Wait,” said Wesley. “Now, according to the plan of the building -”

Gunn quirked an eyebrow. “Hey, when did we get hold of that?”

“If anyone asks, we didn’t,” said Wesley. “I may have picked up a few tips about getting into protected sections of websites from a Chuba demon, but obviously I would never misuse such information. That would be unethical.”

Cordy leant against the wall. “Nothing wrong with that. We didn’t even need to use a demon back in high school – Willow always knew how to do that crap. You know, she made it look so easy.”

Peri exchanged a glance with Gunn. Then she leant forward. “Were you going to tell us where to go once we get in?”

“Yes,” he said, unfolding the plans. “By the looks of the things, that window will get you into the back corridor. Right next to you, you’ll find the heating maintenance centre-”

“If that’s fancy talk for the boiler room, you should say what you mean,” put in Gunn.

Wesley shrugged. “Anyway, from there you’ll get access to the main ventilation shaft, which will lead you straight into the main hall without going near the police.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Cordy.

Peri smiled. “Sounds about usual to me. Come on; I’ll do the dusty job. You can keep watch. Distract the guard.”

“That sucks,” said Cordy, wrinkling her nose. “Well, let’s hope the guard’s cute.”

She flashed her new friend a smile as Gunn gave her a leg up to the small window. “Bet you he isn’t. Why d’you think I chose the ventilation shaft?”

“When we’ve finished discuss the hypothetical cuteness of some policeman who may or may not catch you in the middle of breaking and entering -.”

“We’re not breaking stuff,” said Gunn. “Not yet.”

Wesley glared round at them all. “I was merely about to remind everyone, that the point of this is to get a closer look at sixty dead bodies that should be in the convention hall. Possibly we’ve all forgotten -”

“Great,” said Peri. “I was trying not to think about that part.”

He coughed. “Once you’ve been in there for ten minutes, we’ll assume you’ve got through the shaft, and Gunn and I will cause a distraction out here – hopefully cover your exit.”

As Peri disappeared inside, Wesley helped Cordy up, wincing at her weight.

“If you’re gonna make any comment about how heavy I am, I’ll kick you,” she warned him, looking back in time to catch his expression. “And don’t either of you go getting arrested. Keep the distraction for if we actually, you know, need it.”

*

Peri crawled along the narrow shaft. _Another day, another tunnel_ , she thought to herself, making a face. They all looked the same to her. 

It wasn’t a long distance – the entrance wasn’t far off from the main conference hall, but it felt ten times longer once she had to make her way there on her hands and knees. She thanked whatever deity might be out there that Cordy had got her something appropriate to wear – trainers, cropped trousers and a two-toned blue top.

She reached the third ventilation grid and stopped, looking down through it, although it was hard to make anything out. This should be it. She pulled at it and thought for one panicked, claustrophobic moment that it wasn’t going to shift and she was going to be stuck crawling backwards – or further on into the system. Then it gave and she fell through it with a squeak, not having worked out quickly enough it was in the ceiling.

Peri gave a short yell as her fall was ended by someone handily catching her, and she opened her eyes to find that she was in Angel’s arms.

She caught her breath as he gave her the slightest of smiles, almost apologetic for saving her from breaking something, and she clutched at him belatedly. “Wow. I mean, hi, again.”

“Quick reflexes,” he explained, putting her down. “Plus, we vampires are really sneaky.”

Peri was about to reply, when she stopped, registering the scene around them. She moved back against him, forgetting the whole scary vampire thing against the fact that they were surrounded by what looked like a sea of bodies. She thought she’d seen just about everything, travelling with the Doctor, but a wholesale massacre was a new one on her. 

“There isn’t a mark on them,” said Angel, crouched down by the nearest, a woman, lying at an odd angle, legs poking out from her dowdy brown skirt.

She stared about her. She was grateful for that, because all these bodies in a mass of blood and guts would have been too much to take. Not, she thought, that it really made it any better. They were still all dead. “They just left them here?”

“Can’t disturb the crime scene,” said Angel. “Whatever it is, it wasn’t some crude demon with teeth and claws – must be something mystical. Great. Bet it’s gonna be tricky to kill – maybe not even corporeal.”

Peri looked at the next one, touching his back gingerly. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s no sign of what killed them at all. Where does that leave us?”

“Hmm, weird scent, though,” he added.

She screwed up her face. “Super sensitive smell, too? Bet that’s not always fun.”

“Being undead isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” he agreed, deadpan. “It means I can follow it, if I hurry. It’ll be fading, but if it went underground, I might have a shot. Let’s get you out of here, back to the rest of the gang, and I’ll chase it. Tell them, okay?”

“Okay.”

*

Angel marched Peri back out into the carpeted main corridor, stepping under the black and yellow tape that blocked the doorway from the hall, and turning to the policeman there before the guy had a chance to speak. “You there – what’s your name?”

“Rodriguez, sir,” he said, straightening up. “And, who are -?”

Angel didn’t appear to hear him. “Rodriguez,” he muttered, making a note in a tiny notebook. “I’ll say nothing this time, but you gotta keep a better watch on the crime scene. I’m trying to conduct a multiple homicide investigation and you’re letting civilians in.” He pushed Peri forward, and she sniffed artistically. “Hysterical relatives are all we need right now.”

“Sir -.”

He glared at him. “So get her out of here, officer!”

The unfortunate police officer looked down at Peri, who wiped her eyes. “They said Dad was – he was -”

“Sorry, miss,” he said, awkwardly, propelling her out towards the main entrance. “I’m sorry for your loss, but you’re not allowed in here.”

She gulped. “All those people!” It wasn’t hard to act the part, she found. 

And when she glanced behind her, Angel had already vanished. Sneaky was definitely the word, she thought, and she shivered. 

*

“Sit still, can’t you?” said Cordy, back at the hotel. “I told you not to try anything stupid.”

Wesley grimaced as she put ice on the bruise on his cheek. “Am I going to get a black eye?”

She glared at him. “If you don’t stay still, yes! I’ll give you one.”

“You should have seen it,” said Gunn to Peri. “We were gonna cover your backs, when Cordy returned to say Angel had got in, so Wes here turns to go -.”

Wesley said, “I’m still holding to my theory that that so-called harmless little old lady may well have been a Catria demon in disguise.”

“Then he nearly trips right over this sweet old biddy -”

“Sweet! Hah!”

He grinned widely. “And the rest you can work out. Man, did she go for him with her stick.”

“Yes, but we’ve got a lead,” said Wesley. “We need to find Angel. Cordy, call him again.”

She leant back against the reception desk and rolled her eyes. “Hello? How long have you known Angel? And you’re sitting there hoping he’ll work out how to use his cell phone sometime this century?”

He grimaced. “We’ll have to wait, then. I’ll consult my books.”

“And I’ll look up mystical entities that kill wheat growers without any visible signs of violence on the internet,” said Cordelia.

Wesley shook his head. “You think you’ll find anything that way?”

“I won’t if I don’t try,” she retorted. “What worries me is our big fat hero going chasing after some powerful demon thingumy that’s just killed sixty people. I mean, maybe he’s already dead, but still, a thing that can do that – is it gonna find a stake through the heart so hard to work out?”

“Well, now, that sounds interesting,” said the Doctor, walking in behind them.

Peri turned with a smile and hurried over to catch hold of him. “Doctor! You’re okay!”

“I am, but currently rather annoyed, and still without any means of retrieving my ship,” he said. “It sounds as though you’ve been having a considerably more productive morning.”

*

Angel followed the trail. Faint as it was, he could pick it up here and there. The demon – or whatever it was – had headed out through the fire exit, then down into the sewer network.

At that point, a far more acrid and unpleasant stench assailed him and he frowned, moving forward cautiously in the semi-darkness, wishing he’d brought a big sword.

He stepped forward, turned into a connecting tunnel and pulled back.

It had obviously been a nest of a demon he was unfamiliar with – yellow and red, who’d been gathered round what looked like the remains of a homeless guy to him – but it wasn’t any more. They were every bit as dead as the humans in the hotel, and equally untouched.

Angel crouched down to look more closely, but there was nothing more to see. He knew when something was dead, and these were. Beyond that, there was no clue as to how it had happened, not even any sign of fear on their faces.

Even for this town, that was weird. He followed the trail onwards.

*

“Well, I’m not getting much,” said Cordy, “but there’s one thing that keeps coming up when I put in stuff.”

Wesley lifted his head. “What?”

“Is this how you research all your enquiries?” asked the Doctor. He was still disapproving, but Peri’s description of the bodies had silenced most of his protests and he had joined Wesley in looking through the books. His comments on the source material weren’t helping, since Wesley was growing increasingly more irritated at each one. “It’s hardly very efficient.”

“No,” said Cordelia, smiling at him. “You wouldn’t believe how completely clueless we are sometimes. Seriously, Wes, Gunn, it’s the same thing that keeps coming up.”

Wesley put down the heavy tome that looked as though it had been written in the Middle Ages and crossed to the desk. “What?”

“Things that kill like that,” she said, glancing up at him. “There are a few weird and wacky possibilities -”

“That’s the wonders of modern technology for you,” said Wesley, but he wasn’t having a go at her this time, and he smiled, before sobering again and pulling off his glasses to rub his forehead. “I think it’s the same indication I’m getting from my reading: whatever it is, there’s a good chance it could be some sort of soul stealer or eater.”

“Oh, man,” said Gunn. “That ain’t good news.”

The Doctor frowned. “Well, anything that kills that many people without being seen, or -. What? What is it?”

“You remember what Angel said last night?” Peri said, tugging at his sleeve. “I know you said it was all nonsense and that, but -.”

He sobered. “Oh, I see. A soul stealer. Ah. Not that I subscribe to a word of this thoroughly improbable theory, but nevertheless -.”

“I’ll try paging him again,” said Cordy.

Wesley turned back to the book. “ _Damn_.”

*

They were still in more or less the same position an hour later, although Gunn had fetched his axe and was suggesting that they go out, cruse around in the car until they picked up some sign of Angel or the elusive demon.

“Maybe,” said Wesley. “Cordy?”

She grimaced. “Why is it when you wouldn’t mind a vision, your head remains entirely migraine and handy-clue free?”

“Good question.”

As the Doctor got to his feet, about to agree with Gunn, they all jumped as a voice at the door suddenly sang out: “I need a hero! And he’s gotta be dark and he’s gotta be-”

“Lorne,” said Wesley, jumping to his feet.

The green alien, or demon, from _Caritas_ was standing in the doorway, a guilty look on his face. “Sorry. Not the moment for a number, I know, but the acoustics in here – and it seemed appropriate, because, boy, do I need a hero. Preferably some brooding, bone-headed undead hero, if that’s all right with you.”

“We wish we could tell you where he is,” said Cordy. “What sort of help do you need, because we’ve already got a thing on with a vague, shadowy apocalyptic demon on a mystical killing spree?”

He swallowed. “I think I might have a lead. This guy walked into the bar – completely unremarkable to the naked eye, but whoa -. He only had to breathe in my direction and I was out of there. I know when I’m out of my league, and when he came near me, it was as if someone had turned out all the lights – suddenly _nobody_ in that room had a future any more. Nothing. _Nada nada nada_. So here I am, hotfoot after LA’s only _bona fide_ champion. And – mmhmm – you’re telling me he’s out and you’ll take a message?”

“He may not be the only person who’s seen off an alien – er, demon – or two,” said the Doctor, moving forward. “Perhaps _I_ can be of assistance?”

Lorne paused again. “Oh, I hope so. I hope you all can. Just bring some serious armoury with you, because this one isn’t taking any prisoners.”

“Too right,” said Gunn, hefting his make-shift axe. “We’re on our way.”

Wesley nodded.

“One thing,” said Cordelia suddenly, being the only one still facing the door. “This unremarkable guy of yours. What’d he look like? Like _that_ sort of unremarkable?”

They all turned slowly to look at the extremely average man who had quietly walked in through the door while they were talking, with wavy brown hair he wore a little too long, bland features and a crumpled blue suit.

“I think you’ve been looking for me,” he said, and walked down the steps towards them. “Well, hey, here I am, folks.”

***


	4. Trading Futures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The latest Big Bad has got into the hotel - is there any stopping it this time?

Angel had been following this trail for too long. It wasn’t hard to tell he was on the right track because every now and again, he’d find a body or bodies, all untouched and peaceful, but unquestionably dead.

And then he emerged from the underground, near to _Caritas_. That was worrying.

He ran across to the building, in through the main door, and down the steps, bursting in. “Lorne!”

It was quiet in there, but not deadly quiet, not entirely. There were still a collection of demons at the bar, but there were two more bodies on the stage, no music – and no sign of a green, horned empath demon.

Angel narrowed his gaze, because he could also tell by the scent that his friend – well, maybe more like annoyingly upbeat and cryptic _associate_ , he amended mentally – wasn’t here now, dead or alive. He moved on through to the back rooms.

A squat, blue demon with curved horns followed him. “You after the Host? ‘Cos he skedaddled right out of here before that other guy killed the act dead. And I mean dead. Stone dead.”

“Right,” said Angel. “Thanks. What guy?”

He shrugged. “Just some guy. Looked human, if that means anything. He went, too – probably chasing after the Host – maybe he owed him?”

And where, thought Angel, would Lorne go for help if he had sensed trouble coming? The answer seemed only too obvious. 

He turned his head, back to the bodies on stage, noting two more out in the crowd and _ran_. He was damned if he was going to lose them again. Okay, so he was damned anyway, but he wasn’t going to let it kill them whatever the state of his soul.

*

“Ah,” said the Doctor, taking the lead in the Hyperion lobby. “Welcome, sir. I gather you’ve been causing some trouble here over the last couple of days?”

The newcomer shuffled further in. Everyone else took an instinctive step back, a widening (mostly) human circle around him. “A guy’s gotta eat,” he said, with a sigh, and sat down on the cushioned circular seat in the centre. “And I’m hoping you guys can give me something a little more satisfying than the junk I’ve been subsisting on lately. To put it bluntly, I’m after Angel, but if you’re not helpful, then I might settle for fast food again.”

“Angel’s not here,” said Cordy, folding her arms. “We finished with him, isn’t that right everyone? Wesley here is in charge now.”

Wesley straightened and adjusted the position of his glasses. “Yes, that’s right. If you’re the sort of creature I think you are, you can presumably tell we’re not lying.”

“You may be telling some part of the truth,” he said, with a small, sad smile, “but your futures are all tangled up together, and, darn, such tragically short futures, nothing to satisfy -.” His eyes widened as his gaze fell on the Doctor. “Oh, now _you’re_ interesting. You’re _new_. I wanted the vampire, but you might even be better.”

Peri tightened her hold on his arm, about to tell the man – thing – whatever he was – what she thought of that, but the Doctor squeezed her shoulder in return briefly and winked, so she fell silent.

“Splendid,” he said, striding forward. “If you know so much you’ll realise that I’ve had rather a long existence – enough to be willing to offer myself up quite happily if you’ll only let these – well – these mere human fribbles go.”

The intruder glanced around the room without any real interest. “Humans,” he said. “Once I strode between dimensions, but something happened and here I am, trapped on this short-lived world. Oh, I’ll let them go, if that’s the deal, but I still want the vampire. One or the other of you will surely be what I’m after.”

“Thank you,” said the Doctor. He looked at the others. “Well? Go, all of you!”

The man glanced across at Wesley. “When you see him, send him in here. Otherwise I’ll come after you and I’ll take everyone in my path until I find you. Deal?”

“I understand,” said Wesley, his jaw tightening.

Peri moved to protest, but Cordy yanked her back. “You can see what he’s doing,” she hissed in her ear. “Don’t mess it up. We need Angel.”

She swallowed and followed the rest out at a run, but she couldn’t keep from looking back, because she didn’t believe that. It was the Doctor they needed. From what they’d been saying, Angel might even be another of the bad guys by now.

*

“One more thing,” said the Doctor, after the rest had gone, leaving him alone with the creature. “You seem like a civilised being. I wouldn’t mind a talk first – know who’s about to devour me, as it were.”

He shifted on the seat, and crossed his legs. “You’re playing for time, aren’t you? That’s funny. You can’t kill me. I’m so dead tired I wish you could, but it’s not possible. I’ll talk to you. Bear in mind if any of them tries anything, I’ll simply take them first. My appetite is almost unending these days. You wouldn’t believe how exhausting that gets.”

“You have all my sympathy,” he told him, not entirely sincerely. “And I would very much enjoy hearing your life story. It sounds fascinating. I’m quite happy to tell you my own, if you’re interested to know the – ah – _ingredients_ of your meal, as it were – or will that become yours as you – well – do whatever it is you do? Nothing too messy, I hope. I dislike the sight of blood, especially mine.” 

He laughed, but there was a hollowness to it. The Doctor suspected that his line about tiredness had been genuine. 

“I don’t think we have time for both – not before my hunger gets the better of me. But it makes a change. Nobody’s asked me that before, so, hey, I can see you’re going to be a funny guy, Doctor, sitting there, pretending you care about me while that clever-clever brain of yours is whirring away with plans that won’t work.”

“Ah,” said the Doctor again, but he refused to be cowed and sat down beside the seemingly unremarkable human figure. “As long as I amuse you, then. I assure you I’m not lying when I say that I find you immensely fascinating as a subject.”

He sighed again, with another short smile. “Well, this is gonna be a rare pleasure.”

“How flattering,” beamed the Doctor.

*

Angel raced up to the hotel, but stopped short of the door, sensing movement in the shadows.

“I wouldn’t go bursting in there if I were you,” said Lilah, stepping into the light. “Something nasty and unexpected’s gotten in.”

He caught hold of her, dragging her back into the darkness of the bushes. “Lilah, if this is anything to do with you -.”

“Get your hands _off_ me,” she hissed, but he only laughed and moved in nearer. She winced in reaction, but she said, “You’re not going to bite. You need my information.”

He held on. “Do I? Seems to me when I walk in there I’m going to find some shadowy demon-guy trying to kill my friends. The only thing I want to hear from you is if you’re responsible – and how to stop it. Otherwise I might forget the diet.”

“You’re despicable.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

She tried to pull free, but he tightened his grip and she swallowed, closing her eyes. “Angel. I came here to see your new friend, Dr Smith. We’ve got some unfinished business. Whoever this shadow guy is he came in from underneath the radar, but I’ve been letting people know. Maybe Wolfram and Hart could get to save your ass for a change? Show there’s no hard feelings even after what you did?”

He released her. “Get out of here.”

“No,” she said. “I’m here to see the Doctor.”

He moved on. “Then keep out of my way.”

As he strode forward, he was nearly knocked flying by Gunn, Lorne, Wesley, Peri and Cordelia all hurrying out.

“What the hell?” he said, frowning.

Lilah folded her arms, spotting who was missing with ease. “Isn’t that typical? He’s got the guy _I’m_ after.” Angel headed after her, but he was halted by Cordy’s grabbing hold of his arm, and Wolfram  & Hart’s representative walked on without him, in through the double doors.

“Don’t -,” began Wesley, already too late, and then shrugged.

Gunn returned the gesture. “Too bad. I was gonna say that’d solve one of our problems if it gobbles her soul, but most likely she ain’t got one to lose.”

“Wolfram and Hart would only send someone else,” added Wesley. “Angel -.”

The vampire turned. “I know. I’ll deal with this.” He made a move to get after Lilah, into the Hyperion, but turned to find he still had Cordy hanging onto his arm with an unmovable expression on her face. “It’s gonna be hard to do that if you don’t stop -. That hurts!”

“Come off it,” said Cordy, who’d punched his arm. “How?”

“What?”

“How?” she repeated with force, facing him. “You’re going to march in there and deal with the monster, _how_ , exactly? Oh, and, by the way, did anyone mention the whole soul-stealing-shadowy monster stuff? With emphasis on the soul stealing?”

He said, “Well, I was going to try hitting it. Then chop its head off, if I can get at an axe or something. Usually does the trick.”

“Right,” said Cordy, “you walk in there with that dumb-ass plan all you’ve got and what’s gonna happen? Next thing we’ve got even more troubles. And if you wanna know whether I’d rather be killed peacefully by that guy or get my throat ripped out by an ex-friend -.”

He grinned suddenly. “Friend?”

“ _Ex_ -friend,” she corrected him. “Personally, I’d go for the quiet, mystical death. Besides, you’re forgetting something important.”

“Yeah?”

She smirked back at him. “You’re not the one in charge around here. Wes, what do you make of Angel’s suggestion?”

“It does seem to be lacking in a few of the finer details,” agreed Wesley, pushing his glasses straight. “However, in essentials, I approve. I say we _all_ burst back in there and try to cut its head off.”

Gunn grinned. “I’m cool with that.”

Cordy rolled her eyes. 

“Can I say something?” said Peri.

They all turned, and she wished she hadn’t. “Uh. It’s only that maybe _I_ should go back in. Cordy said the Doctor and I had the key – and Lorne said -.”

“True,” cut in Lorne softly. He had that sad look in his red eyes again. “But you know, I don’t want anyone demanding their money back if it doesn’t work.”

Peri swallowed. “The Doctor might have destroyed it himself by now.”

“Or it’s eaten him,” said Gunn. When they all turned to look at him, he gave a defensive shrug. “What? It might’ve done.”

*

“Now, wait, what’s this walking back in the door? Someone determined to give me a little taster before I start on the main course?”

Lilah looked at the small, shabby man in front of her with a raise of one arched eyebrow. “ _You’re_ the big bad who’s just strolled into to town?”

“That’s me,” he said. “Not by choice, mind. A guy’s gotta eat, that’s all. And you – since you walked in here and threw yourself at me -.”

The Doctor moved forward. “Miss Morgan, I’d advise you to run!”

“I’m not afraid,” she said, lifting her head.

He laughed. “A lie. A lie from lying Lilah, isn’t that right? You’re afraid of everything, but you paint on such a brave face. Except -.”

“I am not some trembling little schoolgirl,” she snapped back at it. “Spare me. If you’re going to kill me, I’d rather you did it without the mystical fortune-telling crap.”

The demon looked at her. “I can’t,” he said. “You’re taken, aren’t you? Future, soul, everything. I can see I should pay a visit to your organisation.”

“You should,” she said, regaining her composure, but not quite as swiftly as she’d have liked. “We would be very interested in representing a client of your potential.”

He laughed suddenly. “Got a card, then, Ms Morgan? Want me as one of your special projects?”

“Maybe,” she said with a shrug. “Depends. We might not find you all that interesting in the end. I have to say, you look a little on the dull side to me.”

He turned his head on his side and hissed through his teeth, for the first time not sounding human. Then he righted himself and smiled at her. “You know, I don’t usually do that kind of thing, but I could get round their claim on your by using the old-fashioned approach. There’s quite an inventive armoury in here, you know, Li-Li-Lilah.”

“Look, I thought you wanted to eat _me_ – or was it suck out my soul?” said the Doctor. “Let’s ignore this young lady, and get back to business, shall we? I’d like to get the process clear before we go through with it.”

“I don’t think you should do that. Try it and you’ll have to deal with me.”

All three of them looked across to see Peri standing in the doorway, looking as uncertain as her voice had sounded, but her chin raised.

“Peri,” said the Doctor. “No. Do you hear me – _no_!”

*

“Now?” said Gunn in a whisper, as the rest waited outside. “We go busting in there after her now, right?”

Cordy scowled and shook her head at him. “Not yet, and _I_ go in there first, not you. Jeez, how long does it take to get that into your head?”

*

“This girl is unhinged,” the Doctor told the soul-stealer hastily. “Take no notice – she’s nothing to you. Peri, go away!”

The guy in the centre of the room looked between them and something in his face sharpened suddenly. “Come here, then, girl.”

“It’s Peri,” she said to the stranger. “I’ve got a name.”

The Doctor had a frown on his face. His every instinct prompted him to intervene, but he had to admit Peri had walked in with purpose and he had no wish to wreck somebody’s plan, given that his own largely involved talking until something more inventive occurred to him. 

“Yes, you have,” the unremarkable villain replied, stepping towards her as she walked down the steps to meet him. “A long name for such a fleeting thing. You know, I’ve been around these parts for a couple thousand years and I never met anyone with a label like that, not outside of the demon dimensions.”

Peri managed a shaky smile. “Well, that’s my Mom for you. I think you’ll find me harder to swallow than you reckon.”

“No,” said the Doctor, unable to keep out of it, despite his best intentions. 

Lilah, to the side of him, pulled him back. “She’s got a plan.”

“Yes, but what?” he returned under his breath.

The demon reached Peri. “A challenge?” he said. “I don’t see it, but if you insist -.”

“Yeah, she _does_ , Mr Average Joe,” said Cordy, slipping in through the front doors. “What’s more, you’ll take her instead of the Doctor and me instead of Angel, if you know what’s good for you.”

He shook his head. “I’ve no objection, but you won’t do, that’s the problem.”

“Oh, come off it,” said Cordelia. “Like I’m not ten times tastier than some skanky undead vampire. That’s the deal. Either that, or maybe it’s time you tried the vegetarian option, 'cos don’t tell me there’s not some substitute for soul eating in _this_ town.”

The demon laughed. “Well, well, I won’t turn down a snack or two – and it’s futures, not souls, by the way – and even LA doesn’t run to a harmless alternative for that.”

“Tough,” said Cordy. “I’m so sorry for you, I _don’t_ think. Get on with it.”

He shook his head and, then, as she joined him and Peri, an uncertain look crossed his face, as he put out a hand to each of them. “There is something here – something hidden -. Oh, now, that’s unexpected…”

*

Peri screwed up her face, moving herself forward a fraction, because it was her, not Cordy that Lorne had singled out for this, even if he had suggested that the other girl should stay with her. However, even when the demon put a hand to her shoulder, she felt nothing than a light, human touch – nothing obviously mystical.

She opened her eyes again and watched the man – or creature. He had a smile on his face, but it was an odd one, an expression that made him seem truly alien. “Oh, this is too fantastic.”

“What is it?” she asked, amazed to find she could speak. She kept her focus on him, because she had a distinct impression than the Doctor was standing only a small distance away with an outsized scowl on his face and she didn’t want to be drawn from her purpose.

He drew back. “Well, how’s that for something out of the blue? You might be my undoing at last, if I have the nerve.”

“I challenged you,” said Peri. No matter what she did, she couldn’t quite muster up the assurance Cordy seemed to have, or the banter. She did what she could, though, and maybe that was enough? “You’d better – or are you scared?”

He smiled and closed his own eyes and this time she did feel something, the slightest tugging at something unseen inside her. It wasn’t painful, but after a short moment, her surroundings started to blur and she realised that this might be what had happened to the other victims. Lorne had said she could stop this thing, but he hadn’t looked _happy_ about it…

*

When Peri fell to the ground, the Doctor leapt forward, unable to contain himself any longer, reaching his companion even as the man staggered back, loosening his hold on Cordelia.

“You see?” said Cordy. “Eyes bigger than his stomach, that’s his problem.” She sounded shakier than usual, though, and she leant back against the wall of the hotel as she spoke.

The Doctor crouched down, checking that his companion was still alive before he did anything else, but then he strode forward, standing over the shabby demon. “What did you do?”

“Her future’s so contradictory it’s breaking me up inside,” he said, sinking to the floor. “And as for the other – so long and yet so short – both impossible, against the nature of things -.”

The Doctor stared at him. “What are you babbling about?”

“Oh, wait,” said Cordy, and whistled loudly.

A few seconds later, the front doors burst open and Wes and Gunn charged in, weapons in hand. Another moment after, and Angel raced in through the back, joining the Doctor in surveying their fallen enemy.

“ _This_ is him?” the vampire said in disbelief. “Massacre guy? You sure?”

Cordy nodded.

Angel paused to give her a sideways glance and then dragged the demon back to his feet to hit him, sending him sprawling onto the marble floor. “Axe,” he said to Gunn, without removing his gaze from the fallen enemy.

“See,” he said to Cordy, moments later. “Like I said: hit it and then chop its head off. Never fails.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Oh, _charming_.”

*

“Lilah,” said Angel, catching at her arm as she tried to make an unobtrusive exit. “I hear you’ve got something of the Doctor’s.”

She glared. “None of your business.”

“I owe him,” Angel continued. “So phone and ask for it to be delivered to the hotel, or I rip your arm off.”

The Doctor’s expression twisted into one of distaste. “I’m sure there’s no call for that sort of talk.”

“You wouldn’t,” said Lilah, ignoring the Doctor.

Angel grinned and said in her ear, “No. I wouldn’t. It’d be a waste. But you know, I might just _bite_ …”

She closed her eyes.

He passed her the cell phone. “Do it.”

“One of these days,” she said, pressing the button with her free hand and talking into the receiver. “Yes. Lilah Morgan. That crate. I want it in the alley outside the Hyperion. Yes, _now_ , moron.” She flipped it shut. “There? Satisfied?”

He said, “No. What were you doing here, Lilah? You led that guy to the hotel, didn’t you?”

“Let go,” she said, in a tone that would have frozen anyone else.

He did at last. “And Lilah, change that order, and I will come after you. You know I will.”

“Go to Hell,” she said.

He shrugged, giving a small grin at the chance to re-use one of his best lines. “Been there, done that.”

“One moment,” said the Doctor, before Lilah could walk out. “I don’t believe we had finished our conversation, Miss Morgan – and I have a proposition to put to you.”

*

“So what happened?” Gunn asked Wesley, leaning on the reception desk. “Because I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.”

Wesley drew himself up and prepared to speak. Then he deflated and leant against the desk next to his friend. “To tell the truth, I’m not sure myself. There was something about Peri’s future it couldn’t swallow and that rendered it vulnerable. I think it must have genuinely wanted to put an end to its existence, because it didn’t have to continue trying.”

“And Cordy’s, too, right?” asked Gunn, facing him directly, and receiving a short nod by way of answer. “That’s what I thought. I don’t like it.”

Wesley shrugged. “Nothing we can’t handle when the time comes.”

“Right,” said Gunn. “In the interests of being able to say ‘I told you so’ when it does, I say again: I don’t like it.”

He laughed. “Whatever it is, we’ll do our usual trick – stop it somehow.”

“Yeah, we’ve got that delicate touch in dealing with weird-ass stuff,” agreed the other. “Some horrible dark future comes after our Cordy -.”

Wesley turned. “Then I’ll whack it with one of my heaviest volumes, you cut its head off. If she doesn’t do something worse first.”

“Yeah,” agreed Gunn. “What was I thinking? ‘Cos everything round here’s _that_ simple.”

*

“Oh,” said Lilah. Her mouth curved into a smile as she listened to the Doctor’s suggestion. “Don’t tell me you want to _save_ me?”

The Doctor glanced at her, without amusement. “I don’t know if that’s possible, or if I even should. Have any luck with the TARDIS, by the way?”

“That darn thing’s a mystery.”

He did smile, then. “So you know that I have access to things that even your firm doesn’t understand. I’m telling you again: I think, from what I’ve seen, that you have one chance and this is it. I could take you away from here.”

“They’re not limited to one country or even one dimension,” she said, swallowing. “Besides, I don’t want to listen to crap about redemption again -.”

He shrugged. “I feel certain I could break that contract of yours. I have a talent for these things.”

“Why are you asking me?” she said, with a frown. “You can see I’m successful – Head of Special Projects with a big office and a great view -.”

The Doctor looked at her again. “Miss Morgan -.”

“Lilah.”

“Lilah. I don’t like you; I certainly don’t trust you. I’m not at all sure about this myself, but I do make a habit of saving things. Planets mostly, but sometimes people, too. All I’m saying is that I can take you so far out of their reach, you won’t have anything to fear from them.”

She straightened her jacket, affecting unconcern. “Fear? Really? Anyway, aren’t you worried I’d only make the worst of my new-found freedom?”

“Then you’d find that I’m quite as terrifying as any vampire or demon in my own way,” he said. “Two hundred and fifty is a mere nothing to a nine hundred year old Time Lord.” He saw the flash of interest in her eyes. “Yes, go on: classify me, put me in your files – much good may it do you. I’ll be gone by tomorrow. The offer is there. What you do about is up to you.”

“Why?” she asked, eventually.

He drew in his breath and shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s probably not wise, but I get the impression you haven’t gone as far as you’d have liked to down the road you’re on. Call it sheer foolishness. And, of course, Miss Morgan – sorry, Lilah – you _are_ a very attractive woman, after all.”

She forced a smile, and left the hotel.

*

Peri sat down out in the garden, next to Cordy. “What’s so wrong with us? How come we gave the shadow guy indigestion and no one else did?”

“Hey, I just get the visions,” she returned. “I don’t get subtitles, or explanations.”

She rested her head on her chin and stared ahead. “It can’t be good, can it?”

“We fight the forces of evil; bad stuff happens,” said Cordy. “Want to give it up?”

Peri smiled slowly. “No.”

“So, we take the risks. I think you’re crazy, by the way, because I _can’t_ give it up, not as long as I’m vision-girl. If I weren’t, I’d head off to my inevitable stardom without a backwards glance.”

She smiled slightly. “I don’t think I believe you.”

“Pfft,” said Cordy. “Like there’s any way I’d hang around here with these guys unless I had to.”

Peri frowned, still thinking. At the end there, she’d been close enough to the shadow demon to hear him say something about a temporal anomaly. _Great_ , she thought, her heart sinking. It sounded only too likely, knowing the Doctor.

“Know what?” said Cordy. “You shouldn’t worry. What you need is someone handy around who spends most of his time averting apocalypses and wrecking prophecies – and I guess you already have. So don’t worry about it. It stops guys like that, but they’ve got no imagination. Like him, so sure he couldn’t find the low-fat alternative for his diet. I mean, look at me: I might want chocolate but some days I’ve gotta settle for salad. Then there’s Angel. He could go round killing people because he’s hungry, but he keeps with the pig’s blood.”

She turned her head. “That’s gross.”

“Is it?” said Cordy. “I forget. Did I mention my life sucks?”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NB: I didn't spell out Cordy and Peri's future to avoid spoilers for both series.


	5. Coda: Caritas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for one last song...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With thanks to dbskyler for providing Peri's choice of karaoke song for me (and thereby the final line).

“We beat the bad guy and came out of it alive – and, as a plus, nobody turned evil today. I say we celebrate,” said Cordy.

Wesley managed a smile. “ _Caritas_?”

“Where else do the undead and the tragically sad hang out?” she said, and grinned back at him.

*

“And what’s so terrible about my future, eh?” the Doctor demanded on facing another definite request from the Host to leave the building.

Lorne curled his mouth downwards. “It’s not that simple, _amigo_. Most people – they sing, I read them. Sometimes it’s clear, sometimes not so much. I just get what I get. You, now – it’s not even some of the deep, dark apocalypse-inducing futures you got hanging over you – and boy, do you have deep, dark apocalyptic things in store. It’s the uncertainty – the tangle of possibilities. Time Lord, right?”

“You’ve heard of us?” The Doctor raised his eyebrows, impressed despite himself.

He shook his head, his smile red against the green of his skin. “I’m reading you, dummy. I told you. You give off vibes with a capital V. You don’t have a future – you have ten thousand futures. And most of them are giving me the willies, not to mention a migraine of epic proportions.”

“I see,” he said. “How insightful. And Peri?”

The Host shrugged. “A sight for sore eyes and no mistake.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I saw your expression when you asked her to sing. That wasn’t merely to do with the shadow creature, was it?”

He swirled the drink around in his glass. “I never divulge anything I read in another being to anyone. I’ve got professional standards. Look, if it’s any consolation, Goldilocks, whatever it is, it’s as uncertain as yours. Best wishes and if you could leave fairly soon, preferably without another word, I’d be eternally grateful.”

“Thank you,” said Lorne, as the door closed behind him. He glanced at the triple-horned Ferruah demon now massacring Tina Turner and winced. Time for a little number of his own, he decided.

*

Lilah walked into the alleyway, in time to watch the blue box vanish. A tremulous smile played about her lips and then she turned on her dangerously high heels and walked away.

The implications were that the TARDIS was something outside the understanding of Wolfram and Hart. That was a first. So the Doctor’s offer was tempting, unlike the efforts of Angel and his hangers-on. However, it seemed she was too late. She was more than a little relieved.

As someone who’d sold her soul she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted it back. Crises of conscience and sobbing regretfully over her past crimes? Not her style. And boy, were there ever past crimes. And there was also Ms Morgan senior and other things she cared to mention even less.

Still, her sense of timing wasn’t great. Lindsey, she thought, you had to hand it to him, even when you couldn’t stand him, he had _timing_. Lousy timing sometimes, but still timing. She headed back to her apartment and wondered if that was what would get her killed or if it would be something else. Then she pushed the thoughts out of her head, amused. Getting killed really wasn’t the main concern when you worked for Wolfram  & Hart. This was one company where the contract extended beyond death.

Talking of which, the Senior Partners wouldn’t be amused if they knew about her toying with the idea of running away. _Wow, Lilah_ , she thought, _a demon wanders in and starts spouting that old line about redemption and second chances and you listen? You must be going down with something._

Tomorrow, she decided, she’d better step up her game, wipe the smirk off Gavin’s face for once and for all and ideally find some way of annoying Angel at the same time. 

She didn’t forget that her job might have its downside, but it had its perks.

*

“So,” said the Doctor, as the TARDIS resumed flight. “I’m curious. What was it you sang the other day?”

Peri smiled to herself and then shrugged. “ _You’re So Vain_.”

The Doctor surveyed her for a long, hurt moment. Eventually, he managed, “I asked you a perfectly reasonable question!”

***


End file.
